A small spot for me to publish random thoughts that might help other writers find that tiny voice echoing feebly inside their heads.

Friday, January 17, 2014

What About Conflict?

What
About Conflict?

Before sitting down
to write, an author has to have an idea. It might be just a germ of a
speck of an grain of an idea, but there must be inspiration. Whether
you choose to outline, storyboard, plot, plan or play it by
ear—inspiration must strike.

You've
got your idea, you've made your plan of attack or you have your
starting sentence. Now what?

Something
Goes Horribly Wrong

Conflict is what
makes a story move forward. Even in the happily ever after tales of
our childhood, there is Conflict. Snow White ends up with the seven
dwarfs for a reason. Sleeping Beauty doesn't put herself to sleep and
Cinderella isn't running from that party just because she didn't like
the food.

When
I taught school, we discussed Conflict in great detail. I'm going to
share some of that with you. English teachers will debate the number
of types of Conflict, but I go with six. Some limit it to three, with
sub-categories. Well, if you're going to have sub-categories, why not
just give them their own?

My
use of Man means Humans, so please, ladies, don't squabble with me.
I'm old fashioned. This is how I learned it and how I remember.

Man
vs. Man

Man
vs. Nature

Man
vs. Himself

Man
vs. Machine

Man
vs. Society

Man
vs. Destiny/ Fate

Explanations:

Man
vs. Man – Any conflict involving one person against another.
This is, understandably, one of the most common forms of conflict.
Everybody loves a good villain. Any of the Die Hard movies are
good examples of this conflict. There are so many others, I can't
name them all. (This can include one race/ group against another)

Man
vs. Nature – Any time the main character is pitted against
Mother Nature. Lots of disaster movies fall into this category. A
Perfect Storm is a great example.

Man
vs. Himself – No, the hero doesn't have to be crazy to be in
conflict with himself. He wants or desires something he can't have or
denies himself he really wants. Of course, crazy often does factor in
– Shutter Island and Fight Club are good examples.

Man
vs. Machine – This one isn't always listed, or it's a
sub-category under Man vs. Man. I like to separate it from that
conflict. Given some of the movies in the last 20 years, this isn't a
sub-category anymore. Think Matrix, Terminator, Eagle
Eye.

Man
vs. Society – Pretty obvious. A person who doesn't fit into
society's “normal” pattern. For some reason, the hero is a
misfit. Sometimes, he's hiding it, other times not. “1984” by
George Orwell is a prime example. So is the movie“Equilibrium”
and novel/ movie “Fahrenheit 451”.

Man
vs. Destiny/ Fate – Many an epic fantasy is built upon this
conflict. It is Bilbo's destiny to bring the Ring to the Shire. It is
Frodo's destiny to return it. And therein hangs the tale.

You may not
consciously pick your conflict. Quite often, it chooses you. As the
story develops, the conflict arises and must be resolved. The
characters make the journey to a resolution. How they get there, is
the plot. (Which I will discuss in another article.)